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Yellow Bug
The Yellow Bug is a vehicle featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time. History At night, Neal drives the yellow bug to a closed amusement park where he and Emma have a conversation about their pasts. Love blooms between them, and the two become partners-in-crime as they pull off small robbery heists. After a successful robbery at a convenience store, Emma and Neal celebrate by jumping into the car and sharing a kiss before heading to a motel. Discovering himself on a wanted poster, Neal makes plans to cross into Canada alone to allude police, but Emma suggests she steal and sell stolen watches. With the earned money, they can run away to Tallahassee and start a new life together. After nabbing the watches, Emma joins Neal in their yellow bug. Before he leaves to pawn the watches, he tells her to meet him at nine o'clock. Instead, a cop, apparently tipped off by Neal about the watches, and arrests Emma for thievery. Two months later, Neal meets a man named August on the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada. Driving up in the bug, he asks about Emma, and August reveals she was sentenced to prison. Neal wants to know more about Emma's whereabouts, but August reminds him of the deal they made months earlier. Full of remorse, Neal hands over three items he wishes Emma to have; the car keys, a keychain and a large sum of money. Via mail sent from Phuket, Thailand by August, Emma receives the keychain and car keys, but not the money. While in jail, she also learns she is pregnant. In 2011, in Boston, Emma meets Henry, the child she gave up for adoption ten years earlier, and drives him home to Storybrooke. During the ride, the boy reads a storybook. He believes every story in the book actually happened, and claims all fairytale characters were brought to the real world by a powerful curse cast by the Evil Queen. As they enter Storybrooke, Henry refuses to give his address to Emma, who exits the car in frustration. Through a chance encounter with Henry's therapist, he gives Emma the address, and she drops the boy off in front of the house. Henry's mother, mayor Regina, invites her in for a drink, and Emma leaves shortly after this. On her drive out of town, Emma notices Henry left his book on the car seat. Having taken her eyes off the road momentarily, she looks back up to see a wolf in the road, which makes her swerve the car, hit the town marker and fall unconscious. The morning after, she wakes up in jail for driving while drunk, but is released in order to help Regina and Sheriff Graham find a missing Henry. After meeting the boy at his castle playground, Emma brings him home again. Determined to acquaint herself with Henry, she later checks in the local inn for a week's time. The next day, as Mr. Gold crosses the street and passes by Archie, the car is parked nearby. Awaking in her first morning in town, Emma is given an apple from Regina's tree. While walking Henry to school, Emma passes across the yellow bug. As she is about to bite the fruit, the boy urges her not to, because it might be poisoned. Later on, Emma is evicted from the inn by the owner, due to the mayor's last minute reminder of a "no-felons policy". Next, her car is booted just as Regina calls to arrange a meeting with her, during which Emma says Henry's idea of a curse is crazy. The boy overhears her and is upset, but later that day they reconcile as Emma seems to accept to move on with his plans against the Queen, in a mission he calls "Operation Cobra". Out of a place to stay, Emma begins sleeping in her car while looking for open rooms in the town newspaper. The relationship between Emma and Henry's teacher, Mary Margaret, who he claims to be Snow White, grows stronger and Emma ends up moving in to her apartment. Emma is offered the position of deputy by Sheriff Graham, but she takes time to think on it. The next morning, pawnbroker Mr. Gold asks her help in tracking down a pregnant girl, Ashley. Emma drives to Ashley’s boyfriend Sean’s house and talks to him while Henry waits in the car. Along some investigation on the girl’s whereabouts, Emma and Henry rush to stop her from fleeing town for Boston. On the side of the road, Ashley is going into labor, to which Emma drives her back to the hospital. Later, Henry is driven home by Emma just before Regina arrives back. Deciding to stay for Henry's sake, Emma calls Graham and accepts the role of sheriff's deputy. As Emma puts the deputy badge on, an earthquake hits Storybrooke due to an old mine collapsing. When Henry enters the cave to search for proof that the curse is real and is getting weaker, Emma drives there, just in time for Dr. Hopper to get trapped down in the mines with Henry. Emma manages to rescue them, aided by a group that includes Billy, Graham, Marco, Regina and Ruby. Acting on his growing feelings for Emma, Graham kisses her, which triggers her magic and slowly returns memories of his former life. Desperate for answers about the memories, he consuls with Henry and the storybook. As he departs after this conversation, he finds Emma waiting outside with her car nearby. Emma skeptically regards Graham's claims about the curse, but both are shocked by the appearance of a wolf. The animal leads them to a mausoleum where Graham believes his heart is hidden. During the evening, Emma, now sheriff, venture into the woods with Sidney to investigate a mysterious meeting between Regina and Mr. Gold. Unbeknownst to Emma, Sidney is working for Regina and has cut her brakes, which causes her to lose control of the car. Later, when Mr. Gold reveals the mayor plans to buy some of his land, Emma and Sidney drive to the town hall and break into Regina’s office to search proof that the transition is illegal. When they confront the madam mayor herself with their evidence, Regina coolly asserts her plans to build a new playground for children. She then forbids Emma from seeing Henry without her permission. Later on, Emma talks to Henry via walkie-talkies, from inside the car, and promises to figure out a way to reunite with him. Curious about a stranger, August, who is visiting town, Emma spends the day sharing a drink with him at a wishing well. Near the clock tower, she brushes leaves off her parked car and then notices a red metal box in the street gutter. On further examination of the box's inside, she finds Henry's storybook, that had gone missing earlier. Puzzled, Emma looks around to see who dropped off the book, but she doesn't see August watching her from behind a building. By car, Emma and Ruby, who is temporarily working for the sheriff department, go to the woods after Mary Margaret reports seeing a very confused David. Finding him unconscious, Emma takes David to the hospital as Ruby goes back to the station. Later, from Emma’s instruction, Ruby drives the yellow bug to the Toll Bridge to search for evidence on David’s wife, Kathryn, who is missing. Not long after she gets there, Ruby finds a box buried under a wooden plank and screams after seeing it contains a human heart. Following a DNA test, Emma discovers the box is a match for Mary Margaret's fingerprints. She then arrests the schoolteacher on charges of possible homicide. Upon learning Mary Margaret has escaped from her cell, an alarmed Emma drives in search of her and accidentally hits a man, Jefferson, on the road. To make it up to him, she drives Jefferson home. He invites Emma into his house, where she eventually finds Mary Margaret. When the two women escape from an insane Jefferson, they find the yellow bug where their captor had hidden it. Emma offers Mary Margaret the keys to the car to leave Storybrooke. However, she admits Mary Margaret is like family to her, to which the latter decides to trust her and returns to jail. Emma leaves the diner followed by David. As she is about to get in the car, he asks how is Mary Margaret doing. He expresses a desire to see the jailed schoolteacher, although Emma rebuffs him from doing so as Mary Margaret is too upset that he does not believe in her innocence. After Mary Margaret is released from jail, Henry calls Emma via walkie-talkie and she goes to the diner to meet him, followed by August. On their way, they pass by the yellow bug, parked near the library. Later that day, August reveals to Emma that he is the seven-year old boy who found her in the woods as a baby. When he claims to believe Emma is the savior who must return everyone’s happy ending, Emma vehemently claims she did not ask for such a responsibility. Under pressure, she decides to leave Storybrooke for good by taking Henry with her. She picks up Henry for a drive in her car, but, unbeknownst to him, they are leaving town. Once Henry discovers where Emma is taking him, he insists against it since the townspeople still need her to break the curse. When she does not listen to him, he purposely swerves the car, and the vehicle crashes into a ditch. Pushed by his insistent pleads that Emma's family needs her, she decides to stay in town for now. After talking to Archie, Emma realizes it might be better for Henry if she stops interfering with Regina's parenting. After a drive to the mayor’s house, Emma explains her intent to leave Storybrooke as long as she and Henry can meet from time to time. }} After Emma and Mary Margaret fall through a portal to the Enchanted Forest, David does his best to find a way to rescue them. During one day, Henry is in the car watching Jefferson and his daughter’s reunion, when David approaches to give him a wooden sword so they can start to practice fighting. From inside his car, Albert observes them. When Mary Margaret and Emma safely return to Storybrooke, their friends gather for a welcome-home party. As Regina leaves the celebration, the yellow bug is parked in front of the diner. As she passes by the vehicle, Cora and Hook secretly observe her from the top of a building. On a new mission, Emma and Henry hide in the yellow bug to spy on Neal’s fiancée Tamara, who they believe murdered August. As they observe the couple leaving the diner, Henry talks about his desire to have more adventures, to which Emma asks if he would like to see to the Enchanted Forest. Storybrooke once again faces trouble in the form of Peter Pan, who casts the Dark Curse to afflict everyone with memory loss. As the curse spreads throughout town, everyone gathers at the town border. Though Regina can keep Pan's curse from occurring, the cost is every single former Enchanted Forest inhabitant will be sent back to their old world while Storybrooke will disappear as if it never existed. To keep Henry from being alone, Emma drives the yellow bug out of town with him, and Regina gives new memories for both of them so they forget everything. }} }} When Little John is taken away by a flying monkey, Emma drives the yellow bug to the limits of Storybrooke to investigate the disappearance. Setting up a scheme with Regina and Leroy, they spread a rumor about a crafted memory potion capable of restoring one's memories of the missing year spent in the Enchanted Forest. At night, Emma and Regina have a stake-out in the yellow bug, and they talk about Henry’s life in New York. Emma wants to introduce Regina to Henry as an old friend, but the latter refuses as it would be too painful to pretend not being his mother. Upon seeing a shadow in the office, the two get out of the car and rush to catch the invader, but the assailant vanishes before they can. Under the effects of a magical plant, David begins hallucinating a hooded figure who confronts him about his fears of not being a good parent to the baby his wife carries. With a sword, he attacks the creature and it vanishes, right before Regina, Emma and Hook arrive in the yellow bug, asking for news about a midwife named Zelena, who turns out to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Missing since the new curse, Neal mysteriously reappears and collapses outside the pawnshop. While unconscious, he is taken to the hospital for recovery. When Emma arrives and asks what happened to him during the past year, all he recalls is the yellow bug, with her and Henry inside, crossing the town line the day Regina stopped Pan’s curse. Still with no memories, Henry is sick of his mother's erratic behavior and decides to leave Storybrooke on his own. Believing the driving lesson he had with David is enough, he swipes the key to Emma's car and rushes to where it is parked near the flower shop. However, before he can go inside, Hook arrives to stop him. Later that day, Regina gives Henry a kiss of true love, which breaks the curse. }} Finding herself in Storybrooke, Elsa grows fearful in a completely new world. Determined to stop anyone from leaving town until she finds her sister Anna, Elsa creates an ice wall around Storybrooke. As David joins Emma to investigate the cause of a sudden blackout, she drives the yellow bug to the town line, where they find the ice barrier, which has knocked down power lines. Later, when Emma assures her she will help locating Anna, Elsa agrees that the barrier is no longer necessary. By car, she and Emma go back to the town line, but, despite the ice maiden's attempts to remove the wall, it remains. Hook, gaining insight from Elsa about Emma's probable reasons for pushing him away, waits outside the diner to talk to her. When Emma finally exits the diner and prepares to enter the yellow bug, she reveals her fear of losing him as she did with all her past boyfriends; Graham, Neal and Walsh. Hook assures her that he is good at survival, and they make up with a kiss. When Emma decides to ask Hook out on a date, Henry encourages her to drive to the diner to meet the pirate. As Emma leaves, she finds a puddle next the yellow bug. During the date with Hook, she shares her suspects that the water has something to do with the Snow Queen. The next day, a layer of ice covers part of the street as Emma drives near the library, causing her to lose control of the yellow bug. Managing to stop it, she gets out of the car. Looking around, she sees the Snow Queen and tries to fetch her. After finding a photo of herself and the Snow Queen, Emma drives to Regina’s vault to confront her about it. Elsa, who has accompanied her for the drive there, listens to Emma talk about the difficult relationship with the former mayor. Deciding the two should settle their differences, Elsa stays in the car while Emma departs alone into the vault. A few minutes later, Elsa leaves the yellow bug to follow what seems to be her missing sister Anna. Finding Elsa missing, Emma ventures into the woods in search of her. Getting a magical candle from Belle, Emma captures the Snow Queen and takes her to the sheriff’s station for interrogation. Infuriated at Ingrid's taunt that her loved ones will see her as a monster, Emma loses control of her powers and explodes a wall, to which the Snow Queen then escapes. With her magic spiraling out of control, Emma damages a streetlight, which injuries David. To avoid hurting her loved ones, Emma enters the yellow bug and flees. At night, in the woods, from inside the car, she observes the view of Storybrooke. The next morning, Emma wakes up in the car. Sensing her magic flow, she tries to calm down and control it. As she gets out of the yellow bug, Henry approaches; hoping to help her. Instead, Emma warns him to stay away, but her amplified powers accidentally injure him. After he flees, Ingrid appears and advises Emma to accept herself. Defensively, Emma refuses to listen and takes off in her car. After driving for a distance, she exits the car and phones Mary Margaret. She explains to her mother that she found a way to get rid of her magic. From her lair, Ingrid watches the yellow bug via her mirror. On her drive to an abandoned manor where Mr. Gold plans to remove her powers entirely, Emma sees a manifestation of Ingrid and crashes to the side after swerving to keep from hitting her. Although Ingrid warns that Mr. Gold only wants to use her, a distrustful Emma returns into the car and leaves. By the time she parks the car in front of the manor, David, Henry, Mary Margaret and Regina examine the road looking for the vehicle's trail. On his own, Hook arrives to the mansion and, upon seeing the car, he thinks it might be too late to save Emma. He yells her name, but Mr. Gold stops him from interfering by binding him to the gate, and later rips out his heart. With the spell of shattered sight cast, Regina estimates it will reach the whole town by sundown. Planning to leave before that, Emma drives the yellow bug to the town line. When David vainly attempts to pass through the ice wall blocking exit from Storybrooke, Elsa, Emma, Leroy, Henry, Mary Margaret and Regina realize there is no escape from the curse. After Ingrid sacrifices herself to lift the curse, Emma drives the yellow bug to the limits of Storybrooke. Even with the ice wall removed by Elsa’s magic, Emma senses something wrong and tests the town line barrier by touching it with her hand. From this, she concludes to Anna, Elsa, Henry, Hook, Kristoff and Mary Margaret that the Snow Queen created a barrier so those who leave town can never re-enter. When Anna explains that Hans conquered Arendelle, Elsa urges Emma to find a portal so the trio can return to their homeland and depose the villain. One morning, near the yellow bug, Hook drinks coffe while waiting for Emma. As she arrives, he drops the cup on the car hood to hug her, and the couple walk towards the library, where Hook and Belle are doing a research on a spell to release the nuns from the Sorcerer's hat. When they succede, a beast comes out of the hat as well. Learning its aim is to obtain the heart with the most potential for darkness, Regina deduces she is the one the monster is after. With Emma, she plans to attract the Chernabog out of Storybrooke, because there is no magic there and it would vanish out of existance. The two women then drive to the town line, chased by the beast. After it causes damage to the car windshield, Regina teleports to the town line and offers herself as bait, but the Chernabog is actually after Emma. While the beast is on the car roof, Emma accelerates the vehicle and halts the car abruptly, which throws the Chernabog across the town barrier. }} Trivia *The car is a 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle Type 1.http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_443891-Volkswagen-Super-Beetle-Typ-1-1972.html *The yellow bug license plate is 836 M4X.File:101LicensePlate.jpg *When Emma arrives in Storybrooke in "Pilot", the expiration date on her license plate is December 2011. When she finds Henry's storybook next to her car in "What Happened to Frederick", the date is still the same.File:113LicensePlate.png Since "Selfless, Brave and True" establishes that Emma came to Storybrooke in October 2011, and "What Happened to Frederick" takes place after "Skin Deep" (which takes place on Valentine's Day 2012), this means that Emma has neglected to renew her license plate. *The yellow bug is featured in the title card of "Going Home" and "Smash the Mirror". *According to Emma, she picked the car because she likes the color yellow. Appearances Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage. *The yellow bug appears in a photo in “The Crocodile”File:204Photograph.png, "Manhattan"File:214Stepgrandmother.jpeg, “Second Star to the Right”File:221Charmings.jpg and “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”File:222EmmaDavid.jpg. References